So, Gareth Southgate has named his final 26-man England squad for the upcoming European Championships. And, looking from a Leeds United perspective, the inclusion of our very own Kalvin Phillips will have delighted the masses in West Yorkshire.
However, there remains widespread discontent amongst Leeds supporters at the omission of a number of further potential Elland Road-based, Three Lions representatives.
Patrick Bamford, Jack Harrison and Luke Ayling may all feel differing levels of frustration at being ignored, but what case, if any, did they have? And, was leaving our trio at home the right decision? Well, let's take a look at some of the underlying numbers our boys posted in their impressive Premier League debut season, in comparison to their direct opponents in England's final Euro 2020 squad.
Patrick Bamford
England's centre-forward options at the upcoming Euro's have been limited to Everton's Dominic Calvert-Lewin, Tottenham Hotspur, England captain Harry Kane, and Manchester United's Marcus Rashford. Although, Rashford is expected to feature from wide positions more often than centrally.
Only Kane (3,082) played more Premier League minutes than Bamford (3,050) this season, with the Leeds man the only player of the aforemention quartet to have featured in every league fixture.
Kane dservedly won the Golden Boot with 23 goals, and also doubled Bamford's impressive tally of seven assists. However, after Kane, Bamford was the second highest-scoring Englishman this season, bagging one more than Calvert-Lewin, whose Everton side finished one place behind Leeds in tenth.
Both Rashford and Kane pip Bamford with regard to creativity and prior international experience, with the pair having collected almost a century of caps between them already, despite their young ages. Both posted over three shot-creating actions per ninety on average in league matches this season, indicative of their superior numbers in terms of assists.
Bamford is notoriously one of Leeds' best presser's, playing in a typically press-heavy Marcelo Bielsa side. Naturally, he posts the highest successful press percentage of the four.
When comparing to Kane and Rashford, there's little to no case to be made for Bamford to be England's starting striker in the opening fixture against Croatia. However, when contrasting directly with Calvert-Lewin, it's clear to see why Leeds fans believe Bamford should've got the nod. Calvert-Lewin, whose early-season form saw him rewarded with his seven senior caps, faded away towards the back end of the season. And, on these figures, only bests Bamford on progressive carries per ninety.
Aerially, Bamford offers the least threat, with Calvert-Lewin having on obvious edge due to his eight-inch height advantage.
But, in terms of form, Calvert-Lewin is the only player to have under-performed his collective non-penalty expected goals and assists. In more comprehensible terms, Calvert-Lewin, based on the chances he created and was provided should have posted 17.3 goal involvements (combined goals and assists), yet only managed 16 goals and 0 assists.
Bamford certainly offers a different option, and in wider terms, probably offers more to the team than a player like Calvert-Lewin, who as back-up to Kane will likely be seen as a poacher. Bamford has also previously worked with Southgate, collecting two England under-21 caps back in 2013/14.
Southgate's press conference's where he has stated selection has been "based on form", along with his previous quotes attributed to the preferrence of Aston Villa's Ollie Watkins due to his "pressing ability", appear to be more central to the frustration of Bamford's exclusion.
Whilst on paper, it can be argued Bamford should be in the squad. There is some understanding of the methodology behind Southgate's choices, however the reasoning the accompanies them does make it more difficult for Bamford and his supporters to accept.
And, at 27 years old, having been overlooked for a major tournament on the back of his career-best performing season, the sad question remains; has the England ship sailed already for Leeds' number nine?
Jack Harrison
Despite Harrison's fantastic season, unfortunately Leeds' number 22 finds himself in far more esteemed, and probably deserving company than Bamford in the striking options. While Bamford can lay an indisputable claim to be the countries leading, in-form candidate as back-up to Kane, Harrison may struggle to make the same claims against the likes of Manchester City pair Raheem Sterling & Phil Foden, Aston Villa's Jack Grealish, and Arsenal's Bukayo Saka.
Harrison has completed the most minutes of any of the five aforementioned players, and by quite some distance, accumulating almost 300 minutes more than any other.
His combined sixteen goals involvements was the most by any English midfield in the Premier League this season, with Sterling identified as a forward, although being hypothesised as a left-winger for the purposes of this comparison.
Sterling, England's most capped player at this tournament, has had a relatively poor season by his usual standards, and is arguably involved due to his senior figure status amongst the Three Lions squad.
Harrison is notoriously Leeds' best presser of the ball, something which is not reflected by the successful press percentage, as the figure reflects the ability of the collective unit in turning over possession through pressing, rather than focusing on the individual pressure applied by one player.
In terms of passing, progressive carries and prior international experience, Harrison is clearly lacking in comparison to those who made the final cut, perhaps signalling Southgate made the right choice leaving him behind.
However, when focusing on the crossing aspect of the "winger's", Harrison is clearly the most natural wide player of the group. This suggests that Harrison hasn't necessarily been overlooked based on performance, but perhaps more based on tactical/systematic preferrence. Southgate is seemingly less in favour of using traditional wide winger's, and more likely to use inverted dribbler's.
Still, when comparing specifically to Saka, Harrison has a right to feel slightly aggreived, particularly considering he has outperformed the Arsenal man, who is five years his junior, on all expected output metrics; non-penalty expected goals, expected assists and collective non-penalty expected goals & assists.
Harrison has also bests Saka on progressive carries and dribble success percentage. Saka perhaps, has his versatility and four previous caps to thank for aiding his inclusion.
But, for 24-year-old Harrison, who also has two under-21 caps to his name in 2017, the hope will be that there is still time for him to break into the international set-up at some stage in the not-so-distant future.
Luke Ayling
Every Leeds fan will tell you Luke Ayling is not only a massive personality to have around the squad, but one of the most-improved player's at the club since the arrival of Bielsa in 2018.
But, unfortunately for lovable 'Bill', right-back is likely the most competitive areas for Three Lions selection, perhaps best illustrated by the mere fact Southgate has included four of them. The four chosen were Liverpool's Trent Alexander-Arnold, Chelsea's Reece James, Atletico Madrid's Keiran Trippier and Manchester City's Kyle Walker
Ayling has never represented England at any youth or senior level, but has excelled in his first season in the top flight with Leeds, featuring in every league game.
In attacking sense, Ayling's numbers in comparison to those that made the squad do speak volumes for his non-selection. With no goals or assists, and down on shot-creating actions, Ayling's best shout would probably be his defensive capabilities and his versatility, making him useful as a right-sided centre-back option.
Boasting the highest distance of progressive carries of any player in any of Europe's top five leagues, Ayling is assured in possession, but also offers more in terms of tackles, interceptions and blocks.
Ayling's weakness this season has certainly been in aerial duels, as seen here. And, his crossing and dribbling numbers are considerably down in comparison to the likes of Champions League winner James and La Liga champion Trippier.
There's no doubt Ayling would've been a fine addition to this England squad, but having seen the likes of Manchester United's Aaron Wan-Bissaka miss out, it would've been a real shock to see Yorkshire's own divine pony-tail included.
And, at 29 years of age, it is looking increasingly unlikely that Ayling will get the nod in future.
But, not to despair.
All three have another intense pre-season under Bielsa to look forward to, ahead of what promises to be another scintillating season of Premier League football at Elland Road.
- Phil Miles
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